Fuengirola Zoo on the Costa del Sol
Fuengirola Zoo - Much to our surprise this charming, compact zoo is located slap bang in the middle of Fuengirola. If you are holidaying in one of the many hotels in Fuengirola then you are just a stones throw from the zoo.
If you are driving there, exit the N-340 (A-7) just past the Solhail Castle/Myramar Shopping Centre and the zoo is well signposted from this point. There is a multi-storey car-park next door so no trouble with parking. Fuengirola Zoo is also within walking distance of the bus and train terminals that are literally just along the street.
The zoo is open all year round from 10.00 daily with seasonal closing hours, as late as 1.00am in July and August! Entrance fees are 14.10 Euro adults and 9.70 Euro children (3-9 years)
On entering the zoo you will immediately see how well thought out it is. Looming over this area is a huge Baobab tree where you can see lemurs dancing and jumping all around. Wander over the rope bridge and look down on the alligators basking in the sand, peer the other side and the flamingos defy gravity sleeping on one long spindly leg.
On one side pygmy hippo’s wallow in clear pools while in the next enclosure wild pigs sleep lazily in the sun. There are many varieties if deer as well as gibbons, snakes, birds of paradise, bats, fish, spiders….the list is endless!
All around lush vegetation transports you to the rain forests where so many of these splendid creatures are to be found. Even if you’re not particularly ‘zoo-friendly’ you cannot help but notice how well and happy all these animals are. Kids can enjoy seeing the giant silver-back gorilla or the beautiful tigers through glass fronted enclosures where these animals are often right up against the glass.
The cheeky monkeys have trees to scale and they really do monkey around!! And the more resplendent orang-utans slowly haul themselves from one part of the tree to the next.
The Amazon River area is cleverly designed so you can see both above and below water, watching the rosy cheeked piranhas swim around and the turtles swim and then climb out onto the river bank with the mud hoppers.
In the summer months (July and August) the zoo stays open until 1.00am and visitors can enjoy their moonlight visit seeing a lot of nocturnal animals that come into their own in the dark.
100’s of species of animal and insect can be found here and it really is a very enjoyable day out. Fuengirola Zoo is very positive about conservation in general and has good educational facilities for schools and colleges that visit. One of the latest success stories is the recent birth of a new Borneo orang-utan. With numbers in the wild being depleted through forestation and scientists claiming the species could be extinct in as little as ten years, this birth is a real cause for celebration.
The themed restaurants available on site are pretty good value for money too and there is also a play area for the kids near the central restaurant. The whole zoo is wheelchair and buggy friendly with wide sweeping pathways that are lit up in the moonlight visit.
For further information:
Fuengirola Zoo, Avenida Camillo Jose Cela 8-10, 29640, Fuengirola, Malaga, Spain.
Telephone: 952 666 301Website: www.zoofuengirola.com